HI HR158

Requests the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations continue recognizing providers of service's right to assign billing dispute participation rights to billing companies under Hawaii's workers' compensation system.

Affirms the Director's consistent position since 2012 that Hawaii Revised Statutes section 386-57 (non-assignability of compensation) does not apply to disputes over prescription drug billing assignments.

Notes that section 386-21.7, HRS, and Act 231 (Session Laws 2014) explicitly permit providers of service assignees to contract directly with employers and carriers regarding prescription drug payments for work injuries.

Opposes recent attempts to undermine established precedent by denying billing companies standing to participate in disputes, which would restrict providers' ability to receive payment for prescription drugs and create a backlog in billing disputes.

Asserts that allowing assignment denials contradicts legislative intent and would harm the workers' compensation system's main goal of healing injured workers and returning them to work as soon as reasonably possible.